​The Testimony of Men

Introduction. One of the defenses educated people create to justify unbelief, is God’s method to create faith. The Holy Spirit revealed that faith and belief do not come from seeing, but “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17). In the minds of multitudes, this creates an unacceptable layer between the events and our belief in them. The ancient documents we call Scripture were left by God to give the testimony to create faith, and through that faith, salvation.

Today’s unbeliever considers and even proclaims God’s testimony is not sufficient. For something this important they expect God to repeat His proofs from generation to generation. They want to see it themselves, refusing to accept the testimony of those who were present.

A Serious Paradox. There is a fatal flaw in this reasoning. No educated person gained their knowledge without trusting testimony from others. “Faith” is all we have to overcome the limitations of time and distance. The window through which we “see” the world is tiny. Without the “faith” that comes by “hearing,” we can’t “see” anything that happened in the past or in other parts of the world. A careful look at what Scripture defines as faith is large enough to cover all disciplines and branches of learning! Faith “is the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1-2).

Deductive Reasoning. The criminal justice system, medical profession, historians and educators rely almost exclusively on deduction (evidence of things not seen) to function. Without reasoning from “the evidence of things not seen,” everything they cannot “see” for themselves is beyond their grasp.

It is the highest form of inconsistency and even hypocrisy to use syllogistic reasoning in the courts, hospitals and schools, then express contempt for it when God used it to save our souls! God has already noted this truth and placed it into a syllogism that will be used on the Day of Judgment.

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son. The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. (1Jn. 5:9-10)

An Unbreakable Syllogism. Remember, as “defined by Aristotle, a syllogism is the combination of a general statement (the major premise) and a specific statement (the minor premise), then a conclusion is deduced.” Since we all accept the testimony of men in every other realm of our lives, we cannot escape the major premise of this syllogism:

(A-major premise) ALL VALID TESTIMONY OF MEN IS ACCEPTED AS TRUTH

(B-minor premise) THE TESTIMONY OF GOD IS GREATER

(C-conclusion deduced) WE MAKE GOD A LIAR IF WE DON’T ACCEPT HIS TESTIMONY

The only way to avoid the conclusion is to prove one of the premises is false. But can we do that? The major premise (A) is absolute and cannot be denied. So we must attack the minor premise (B). This is the simple logic of deductive reasoning. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle understood this perfectly when he said “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

The Testimony of God is Greater. If the minor premise is false, the conclusion is also false. Is God’s testimony of Jesus greater than the testimony of men? The ancient documents of Scripture reveal that the only answer is YES!

Prophesy: The 53rd chapter of Isaiah is so accurate in its description of Jesus’ death that for hundreds of years skeptics affirmed it was written after Jesus died. But the Dead Sea scrolls proved conclusively that this was false. They were written before Jesus' death and were true prophesies. This is testimony far greater than man can give. There are more than 200 of these in God’s testimony.

Miracles: The gospel of John records Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding 5000 with a few loaves and fish, walking on water and was Himself raised from the dead. As Peter later affirmed, “Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22-23). This too is far greater testimony than man can offer.

Eyewitness Testimony: This is the major premise of the syllogism. We have already accepted the ancient documents of secular history giving what we know of Rome, Greece, or Egypt. So the ancient documents of Scripture cannot be logically denied. All the miracles recorded were “performed in the presence of the disciples,” and by their own words “we did not follow cunningly devised fables... but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (Jn. 20:30; 2Pet. 1:16-17).

Conclusion. The skeptic, atheist, and agnostic all ignore the evidence of God’s testimony. Yet the syllogism stands. Truly “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” It is impossible to reject this evidence, so the truth remains. The evidence proved Jesus is exactly who God proclaimed Him to be. No matter how improbable this seems, it is pure logic forcing us to accept it. We need to assess these things now and make the logical decision based on the evidence, before we stand before God and He asks us why we considered Him to be a liar.

Bible Questions is a work of the Holly Street church of Christ in Denver, CO. Copyright (c) 2018 Holly Street church of Christ. All material within the website may be freely distributed for non-commercial uses by including a reference to the website.